[ cheers and applause ] breaking news, hijacked. that's the report on malaysian airlines flight 370 as we go on the malaysian government claiming hijacking is not a theory anymore. we have the latest. toddler wanna bes competing for gigs as little versions of everyone from katy perry to jennifer lawrence, inside the strange world of celebrity mini

mes and their search for fame. >> i'm leaning toward this girl. >> what this means for parents and their kids. posting innocent photos of yourself online and end up on a revenge porn site and suddenly you look like this. to take them down the site wants $400. this young mother said it happened to her. >> it infuriated me. >> it could happen to you? >> keep it right here, america. "nightline" is back in just 60 seconds.

thank you for joining us. brashging news on missing malaysian flight 370, moments ago the associated press reporting that according to a malaysian official the theory that the plane is hijacked is no longer just a theory. it is conclusive.

we're expecting to hear from the malaysian prime minister in the next hour. please stay with us and we'll have a full report coming up. we shift gears to a different kind of story. you may have heard about celebrity lookalikes, booking gigs thanks to uncanny resemblance to the hollywood elite. now kids, even toddlers are doing it, too. and from the crazy outfits to the wild makeup, there is city of competition to come miniature versions of the celebs but are they taking it too far. >> reporter: do you ever wonder what lupita might have looked like as an 8-year-old or jennifer as a school girl or meryl or pharrell for that matter? if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, these a-list mini mes a ss are going extreme. stage kids 2.0, in the celebrity soaked world, the children are

bombarded with the message that fame is everything. >> my own children say to me all of the time now, can we be on youtube and i said absolutely not. but they get it from their friends and they get it from the friends looking at things and they're constantly seeking attention. and sometimes not so healthy i was. >> reporter: so, they're chasing stardom, younger than ever. how does it feel? >> it feels good. >> reporter: yeah? how young is too young, too soon? is it just harmless dress-up? or something more troubling? when everyone seems convinced that fame is just a selfie away. why do you think so many kids want to be stars these days? >> they want to be famous. >> reporter: do you want to be famous? >> yeah. >> reporter: why? do you think? >> i want people to know me. >> reporter: but first they have to get noticed, which is why they do it for free. even if it's a longshot at fame. it's called toddlewood, the brain child the photographer

tris tricia messeroux. her images off the gone viral on buzz feed or access hollywood. >> i started modeling at age 2 1/2. >> reporter: this aspiring actor drove four hours from washington for one audition. >> i think of it as like acting, like getting to know your character. >> reporter: you take this very seriously. >> yeah, do i. >> reporter: these trips are a weekly routine for this third graders in the hopes of landing that one bigs role. >> i think we're very close to our destination. to the audition. >> reporter: his mom tries to support his ambition, even if she finds it at times baffling. and you're not vicariously living through your child? >> no, i'm actually a very shy person and i never had any interest in acting or anything surrounding acting. >> reporter: no gig is worth turning away because fame could be just around the corner, why j.p. thinks toddlewood could be

his big break. he's competing against 4 that other k -- 425 other kids to sparkle. try tryst sh they gather to watch the awards show. >> we're looking at the wolff fame and choosing kids we match with the celebrities we choose. >> reporter: the photos hang on the wall for this kafth call. >> a little chunkier. taylor is really slim. >> reporter: one of 12 coveted spots. >> i'm learning toward this girl. i think she's going to be great. >> reporter: you've seen the show where families seem to be willing to do anything for the spotlight, like "dance moms,". >> out of my face. girls out the room. out of the room. >> all of you. out of the room. >> reporter: but this is less about stage moms, these are stage kids.

it seems that the moms are living vicariously through the kids. >> yeah. my daughter is the one that's surprising me. >> reporter: logan is a parenting expert and therapist. how do you stop a kid who says this is my burning desire, this is my one thing? >> i would ask is it because of the kids want to do this or they see is partaking in it on our screens, our pdas that we're looking at these things and teaching them that these images have value. >> reporter: it's been a big year erin. >> i would never get up on my stage by myself and do a solo. >> i would. >> you would? you're not afraid. >> reporter: she's practicing for her first solo performance in an upcoming recital. erin is about to find out if she made the cut for toddlewood.

>> calling the parents. waking some of them up. >> reporter: it's tough to tell who is more excited, the parents or the kids. >> hi, heather, this is tricia. >> my heart is beating right now. >> we would like erin to join us for a toddlewood adventure. >> oh, my god. >> erin will be playing the role of the fabulous and gorgeous katy perry. >> oh, my gosh! >> i know. >> reporter: with the cast set, time to create the red carpet glam. in new york's fashion district. >> we're shopping for fabric here, hoping they have the exact thing we saw last night. >> reporter: it's a race against the clock to fashion together a dozen outfits. both jnk.p. and erin made the c. with the overthe top makeovers to strut like a pop star. she's about to transform into cyndi lauper. >> that hair looks like a hat.

>> tricia sees her photographs imitating art. but she rejects outfits that are risque. >> i don't want anything that implies the kids are sexy or anything like that. it needs to stay cute. >> reporter: but are these stage kids sacrificing a carefree childhood in the rush to be famous? what's wrong with posing for red carpet pictures? what is wrong with a 6-year-old doing this? >> there is nothing wrong with kids doing any of this unless it becomes their sort of reason for living where they need to be out there and they need to be seen by others and they need the makeup and the hair. that's sad. we want kids to be kids. >> when you look in the mirror, what do you think? >> i think i look messed up. >> reporter: what do you mean, messed up? >> my lips are all messed up. >> reporter: you're right, they're a little bit messed up. it's erin's moment to roar.

and grandma is all choked with emotion. >> i see you watching your granddaughter and you're getting emotional. what is making you emotional? >> it's something that she loves do. she's a performer. >> reporter: for "nightline" i'm juju chang in new york. ♪ you're gonna hear me roar >> who knew? thanks, juju. how this married of mother of two young kids woke up to find her g-rated pictures used in a very x-rated way and what she tried to do about it. [ female announcer ] we lowered her fever. you raise her spirits. we tackled your shoulder pain. you make him rookie of the year. we took care of your cold symptoms. you take him on an adventure.

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these days lots of us post photos online for friends, family and fun but now some unscrupulous businesses are taking shared and in some cases finding unshared pictures and posting them on x-rated sites, then demanding big bucks from victims to take them down.

and often there is not much law enforcement can do about it. we welcome our correspondent to "nightline" with this report. >> reporter: she has more than 3,000 photos online, charming images of craft projects and innocent pictures of herself but two weeks ago the married mother of two young kids woke up to find that her perfectly pg pics were used in a very x-rated way. >> i was unfewer rated and angry that people would think that person was me. >> reporter: some of the totally innocent photos had been taken and posted on a porn site next to very graphic images of what she says is someone else's body along with a list of sex acts she supposedly enjoys. that's not all, her name and the city she lives in and link to her facebook page were there, too. she started getting bombarded with messages from strange men.

>> you're pretty, those pictures were really interesting, i would like to get to know you more and some good considerably more graphic. >> reporter: then the second shock, she says when she went to the website to demand the pictures were removed she was led to another site with a striking offer. pay $400 to get the photos taken down. she called that cyberextortion. >> really? like i would pay somebody $400. i mean who knows what they would have done with my credit card information? >> reporter: experts say it could happen to anyone and evenevent s like this are more common than ever. >> if you find your photos have been misused you can report it but basically you're on your own, there is not a place for law enforcement to step in. >> reporter: the beige with the pictures has been viewed more than 75,000 times since being posted on what's known as a revenge porn site where typically a bitter ex posts risque pictures or individual

yost former lover online and in an instant the deeply intimate moment becomes ruthlessly public. kayla found that out the hard way, a topless picture she admits is her showed up against her will all over the internet. >> it's embarrassing they've seen the photo of me and know what i look like topless because of that site. >> reporter: kayla says she was hacked but what she didn't know at that time was that she was just another in a long embarrassed line of women who had become victims. in kayla's case they picked the wrong victim with the right mom. it. >> was extremely difficult for the whole family, not just my daughter that was vic titimized was the family, it impacts everybody. >> reporter: she's been called the erin brockovich of revenge porn. she was frustrate tld were not more legal protections. california enactsed one of the

first laws in the nation. >> it cover 100% of victims, anybody who distributes a nude or topless picture without the victim's consent, that would be illegal. >> reporter: authorities are cracking down. case in point, you got posted.com which critics claim specialized in revenge porn, run by a san diego man. what if something did that to your sister? >> he was arrested on 31 felony counts of conspiracy, identity theft and extortion. investigators say he got himself into trouble, not by simply humiliating people but charge victims $250 to $350 to remove images using e-mail sent through a website called change my reputation.com. he's pled not guilty. >> it's incredibly difficult for victims to find a remedy. it's difficult to get any type of civil suits to be initiated against these perpetrators because that costs a lot of

money and often does bring more publicity to the images. >> reporter: as charlotte celebrates the crackdowns she knows technology is one step ahead of people love taking pictures of themselves and sharing them. >> the law has not kept up with technology. so many pictures on the internet, so much information out there, i don't think theres a way to curb that. >> reporter: melissa filed a complaint with the fbi but that adult website that she says is trying to extort her is registered in another country. she may have done all she can short of paying the removal fee and even then there are no guarantees. >> i hope they'll be taken down or the whole site women be taken down. i'm one of many women extorted on this site every day. i would hate for somebody go through what i've gone through. >> reporter: i'm mara